


Sherlollipops - Hidden Truth

by MizJoely



Series: 221 Sherlollipops [145]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M, Post Reichenbach, Sherlolly - Freeform, slightly angsty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-12
Updated: 2016-03-12
Packaged: 2018-05-26 05:14:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6225376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MizJoely/pseuds/MizJoely
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Post Reichenbach AU set in the locker room. Sherlock's back, but is it for good? And is he ready to hear Molly's hidden truth? Is it safe to tell him?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sherlollipops - Hidden Truth

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Sherlolly Appreciation Week over on tumblr. Day 6: What Happened During The Two Years Sherlock Was Dead?

“He’s not your fiance.”

Molly turned to stare at Sherlock. He’d just shown up out of the blue after two years spent chasing down Moriarty’s cohorts - two years during which she’d neither seen nor spoken to him - and the first words out of his mouth were (naturally) a deduction.

A _correct_ deduction, but before she told him that, she had to know. “Is it safe? Are you back for real, or is this just a stop-over on your way to somewhere else?”

Sherlock moved closer, and Molly nervously twisted the ring on her finger. “As safe as it ever is,” he replied with a shrug. But his eyes belied the casual response, intensely focused on her, scanning her face and body as she stood next to her locker. “He’s not a body guard, either, Mycroft wouldn’t be so obvious and you’d never even consider hiring one for yourself. Besides, he’s someone you know, someone you’re comfortable with. A relative?”

She started a bit, an involuntary movement that spoke volumes to the man who’d spent his life honing his observational skills. “Yes, a relative, but not a blood relative. An in-law, perhaps.” His eyes flickered once again to her engagement ring. “The ring’s not sized correctly, but you’ve been wearing it at least six months.” He met her gaze, mouth folding into a narrow line. “Molly, why is your sister’s husband pretending to be your fiance?”

“Answer my question first,” Molly insisted. She wanted nothing more than to tell him the truth, tell him everything, but she had to know he was back for good. “Have you - does anyone else know you’re back?”

Something in her eyes and voice, probably her body language and possibly the phases of the moon seemed to alert him to the necessity for treading carefully. “I’m back for good. Mycroft knows, he’s the one who dragged me back.”

“Dragged you back?” She seized on his words with despair. “So you weren’t ready to come back on your own? You’ll be leaving again?”

He reached out and gently grasped her shoulders. “I was finishing up one last bit of business in eastern Europe,” he said. “Mycroft took care of it for me. So yes, Molly, I’m back for good. I’ve eliminated as much of Moriarty’s infrastructure as I could, and that was certainly enough to ensure that any remaining players will be too busy running for their lives to even think about wondering who it was that took away their safety net. Now. What is it you’re not telling me?”

Molly took a deep, shuddering breath, then did what she’d wanted to do ever since seeing his face reflected in her locker mirror: she threw her arms around him and buried her head in his chest. He held her close, and she felt his lips touch the crown of her head before she turned her face up to his. The second kiss landed on her lips, a bittersweet reminder of the way they’d said their good-byes once upon a time.

She savored every second spent in his arms, just as she had the night before he’d left London to begin his self-imposed mission. They’d only had the one night together and he’d made her promise not to wait for him…but circumstances hadn’t allowed her to keep that promise. Nor did she think she could have even if it wasn’t for…

She fumbled her mobile out of her lab coat pocket, thumbing through the photos before finding the one she wanted to show him first. With shaking hands as nerves finally set in, she gave it to him.

“Tom and Lynne actually came up with the idea,” she said, once again twisting the ring on her finger - her sister’s engagement ring. “And Mycroft agreed…”

“So Mycroft’s known all along,” Sherlock said softly as he thumbed through photo after photo, showing no emotion at the story they were telling.

“He promised to let me be the one to tell you,” Molly replied. “We both agreed that telling you while you were away would be a mistake. Neither one of us wanted you to, to split your focus, to be distracted at the wrong moment and maybe end up dead for real. I couldn’t have lived with myself, knowing I’d been the cause of something like that.”

“So the brother-in-law became the pretend out-of-town fiance to cover for your frequent trips out of London and your extended leave of absence.” He looked up, piercing her with his gaze, and Molly’s heart skipped at the thought of his (justified) anger with her. “What’s her name?”

“Marion. After your mother.”

“Marion,” he said softly, returning his gaze to the photos. He’d stopped on the one for Marion’s first birthday. She was smiling, her blue-green eyes and dark curls unmistakably inherited from her father, but her nose and smile were all Molly. “Your sister and brother-in-law pretended she was theirs. To protect her.”

“Yes.” Molly nodded, her eyes filling with tears as she braced herself for Sherlock’s anger - or worse, his indifference.

Instead she got what she’d never dared to hope for: a look of complete understanding. “My life will never be completely safe, Molly, you know that.” She nodded. “That being said…I’d still very much like to get to know my daughter. _Our_ daughter,” he corrected himself with a disbelieving grin. “When can I meet her?”

The tears she’d been fighting spilled over as she laughed and hugged him again. “How does now sound?”

“Perfect. It sounds absolutely perfect.”


End file.
